Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 - Enzian Theater

Screening as part of the 13+ Films of Halloween.

25th Anniversary!

Join us for a rare 25th anniversary screening of Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2—the provocative and polarizing sequel that dared to follow up one of the most iconic and successful independent films of all time.

Directed by Oscar-nominated documentarian Joe Berlinger (Paradise Lost, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster), this psychological horror film trades found footage for a surreal, stylized descent into media-fueled hysteria. Set in the aftermath of The Blair Witch Project’s cultural explosion, a group of strangers come together to tour the infamous woods made famous by the original film. Among them is Jeff (Jeffrey Donovan, Burn Notice), a local obsessed with the Blair Witch mythos, who guides the group into the Black Hills Forest for an overnight stay at the ruins of Rustin Parr’s house. When they awaken with no memory of the previous night and find their video equipment has recorded something horrifying, the lines between reality, obsession, and delusion begin to unravel.

Pivoting sharply from the Vérité style of its predecessor, the film explores the media frenzy and cultural paranoia surrounding The Blair Witch Project, rather than continuing its found-footage format. Critically panned upon release, the film has since gained attention for its meta-narrative and subversive approach to sequel-making. Rather than simply retreading the original’s footsteps, it attempted something more provocative: a horror film about the impact of horror films.

Try one of our 13 Cocktails of Halloween, available at Eden Bar starting October 1:

BLACK BERRY HILLS
Blackberry Vodka, Amaretto, Lime, Lemon, Sprite

2000, 90 minutes, USA, Directed by Joe Berlinger, Rated R

"Blair Witch 2 is at least as good as the original, if not better...You liked the original? F–k you. You didn't like the original, but liked the execution? F–k you. You didn't like the original, but liked the idea? F–k you. This has none of that, a deep plastic hole burrowing further and further inside our head, the collective head, that of ourselves, and others, and the woods."
– Josiah Morgan (@josiahmorgan11), LETTERBOXD
"Brilliant reconstruction of the original film's fictionality. If the original Blair Witch was a fake pretending to be real documentary, Blair Witch 2 is a real production pretending to be a fake narrative. We see the birth of the myth's reality, the nitty gritty factory of linear storytelling trying to force the monstrous horrors of existence into a nice little package."
– Comrade Yui (@comrade_yui), LETTERBOXD
"The idea of making a sequel that explores the effects such a huge marketing success could have on a vulnerable public is frankly brilliant and not terribly far from reality...this is still a great and underrated sequel that always brings back the great nostalgia wave from a time when we all wanted to believe that the witch was real."
– Tony the Terror (@tonyterror), LETTERBOXD
"I am really happy that I've finally gotten over my arrogant young self who would've looked down her nose at 00's era nu metal horror, but now I totally love it & because I let it go this movie gave me a goth girl AND a wiccan girl in the same movie & I felt very at home."
– Clare (@fieldmouse), LETTERBOXD
"This is the sleazy 2000’s bullshit that I love"
– Blue Ghosts (@blueghosts), LETTERBOXD